Titanium
by Kin-Sung
Summary: He realized that he was meant to be with her all this time. She had a feeling it was him all along. For it wasn't destiny that brought them together. It was fate, itself. Rated T for now.
1. Chapter 1: The Price

_Hello! This is my first time doing a Fullmetal Alchemist and Blue Exorcist crossover. So you guys better be nice! This is idea was written while I was watching Netflix. _

**Warning: Obviously, it will contain spoilers in later chapters since it follows the Brotherhood remake. So don't tell me you're not fine with me, spoiling it for you.**

**This is a EdShie fic, if you don't like this pairing, ****then why are you reading this story when it's specifically an EdShie fic?!**

**There will be some OOCs, so my apologizes on that. So in this story, Shiemi did went outside of her home and joined the academy before the start of the series. **

**Also there will mentions of some OCs by a friend of mine and it will be rated T for violence in the rest of the chapters. ****Please review and flames will flagged as abusive!**

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**Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist belongs to Miss Hiromu Arawaka and Blue Exoricst belongs to miss Kazue Kato.**

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** Chapter One: The Price**

When her grandmother died, Shiemi knew she had to move on and stop living in the past. But she will never forget the day her grandmother passed away. There was no way she could bring her back to life. A week later, she joined the True Cross Academy and befriended Kaori and a handsome boy named Kenshin Tora. Other than them, she met the Okumura twins, Rin and Yukio. Yet they looked different in appearance. Ever since she joined the academy, she was often occupied with work and training. Kenjiro took her under his wing and they began to bond like family. She was more like a daughter to him. However being twenty four, he was four eleven which made everyone think he was in his teens. Some look younger than they looked. Kenjiro often helped her in her garden. He mostly taught her Korean martial arts, Shiemi was taught to condition her body through regular workouts, a part of his tutelage. He was a part of clan and the home was a large mansion. Everyone else in the household wore casual clothes. Her training garb was Chinese qipaos and black flats. She wore casual clothes as well.

One day, Shiemi and Kenjiro were at a public library, doing some research. She saw an encyclopedia-sized textbook and quickly skimmed through the pages.

Then she saw a resolution to her problem: Reviving a dead person to life. There was a warning sign on the page but she ignored it.

She wasn't sure if it was right, her mentor once said, 'you don't always get what you want.' That was true and she agreed with him.

She checked the book with her library card after she finished sparring with Kenjiro. He was in the same rank as Shura, two seemed quite close. The pages contained some type of formula, either or mathematical or scientific.

Shiemi quickly bought the supplies she needed to perform the ritual and looked at the test tubes, graduated cylinder, beakers and volumetric flasks that were filled with various types of liquids and chemicals.

She quickly wrote some notes on paper with a pencil.

"It's ready." She looked to see the perfectly drawn runes on the bedroom carpet floor, it was drawn in paint on a large sandpaper. In the middle of the rune, a large oval like petri dish with a mixture inside of it.

"Last but not least, part of my soul," she said and sliced her index finger with a knife. Blood oozed out as it dripped on the mixture. She crouched down on the rune.

"Here we go," Shiemi murmured as she pressed the palms of her hands on the rune.

Large gusts of wind blew open various books. The violet wind blew against her short shoulder length blonde hair.

Bluish white sparks emerged from the middle of the rune where the petri dish was at.

Something wasn't right.

Without warning, she looked at her arm and leg began to disappear as if she was being taken apart like an object.

_It's a rebound!_

Shiemi scanned her surroundings and saw nothing but white. A large gate was behind her as she stood, puzzled.

White was everything.

"Where am I?"

"Hello," a voice answered her.

"Who's there?"

"I am," the voice said.

She turned to see a white being bent down before her.

"Who are you?" She asked the thing.

"Oh, I'm so glad you asked! I'm what you call 'the world', or, 'the universe', or 'god', or 'truth, or 'one'. And I'm you," the thing explained as the white being pointed its index finger at her.

"Welcome, you arrogant fool."

As if on cue, the large gate opened a large single eye with pitch black like hands grabbed her as she screamed.

"Hush now. This is what you've been waiting for, isn't it? I'll show you the truth," the thing said, the yelling girl was dragged into the gate as it slammed its doors shut.

_What's happening to me?! _

Images began to flood through her mind. Everything was going too fast.

_Stop! My head is going to burst! I'm being taken apart! No! Make it stop!_

The black hands continued to wrap her around as her green eyes looked up to see a white figure that looked like her deceased grandmother, she reached out to grab the figure.

She only grabbed air, the gate slammed shut and she was freed from being imprisoned in there.

"How was it?"

"It felt like all the secrets of the world were pouring into my head. My head hurts. I was able to instantly comprehend everything. So this is the truth," Shiemi said. "I see. My formula for human transmutation wasn't flawed, it just wasn't complete." She walked towards the closed gate, "I just need more time. The thing that I'm looking is just ahead, it was literally in there. The truth was in there. Please let me see it again." She turned to face the white being who stood up.

"No, no. That's all I can show you for the toll that you paid," the white being said.

_What toll? _

Shiemi's right arm began to vanish as it appeared on the white being.

"Remember, the law of equivalent exchange, don't you?" The white being grinned maliciously at her.

Shiemi watched in horror as her right arm was now gone.

She landed on the ground, blood stained the creamy colored floor patch. It was cold and smooth. Blood drops were splattered on it.

Shiemi gasped, clutched her teeth in pain. More blood continued to stain the floor patch and her clothes.

Rain drops began to soak her fresh warm blood and her clothes.

She thought she was back in her room but, instead, she was outside on a very stormy weather. She had no idea how did she get here. But Shiemi felt very faint as her body began to slump. She didn't even bother looking at her surroundings. Her face was full of regret and sorrow and gave a weak smile before it quickly wiped off her face.

Her green eyes began to close.

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Two boys quickly noticed a heavily bleeding girl with her right arm missing. Her violet colored shirt was getting drenched from the blood and rain, her jeans were a little ripped. Her attire were a bit futuristic, but it didn't matter. The girl could die in the rain in her current condition.

A weird creature was mumbling at the unconscious girl. But she didn't saw it, the two boys had to treat her right away, they couldn't just leave her there to die in the rain.

"_We have to stop the bleeding!"_

"_It's too much!"_

"_Can't we take her a hospital in Central?!"_

"_Don't blame me if this girl dies from her wounds!"_

_"What happened to her right arm? Did she cut it?"_

_"Don't think so, big brother." _

Voices were heard, they sounded unfamiliar to her as she tried to open her eyes.

Shiemi's vision was so blurry, she couldn't make out the person that was carrying her.

All she could do was let the fatigue pull her into slumber and it took over.

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_**Author's Note: **Did you like it? I was just a little pumped for writing this. I know there are some unanswered questions, but please bear with me!_

_**REVIEWS! **_

**Flames will flagged as abusive!**


	2. Chapter 2: The Journey Begins

**In this fanfic, Shiemi is voiced by Michelle Ruff. So yes she sounds exactly like Rukia from Bleach. **_Also, I may be slow on updates because of college work._

**Apologizes for OOCs in this chapter.**

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**Chapter Two: The Journey Begins **

"_We need more bandages!" _

"_She isn't that drenched from the rain." _

"_Should she stay in those drenched and bloody clothes?" The small boy looked at her clothes, it was wet and soaked with blood. His face began to feel heated. Her attire did look a bit futuristic._

"_No, she's going to catch cold if she does." The girl looked at him and sighed._

"_I'll get my grandmother to get her out of those clothes," she said._

Shiemi groaned as she stirred in her sleep. Slowly, she opened her eyes and attempted to get up. Cold sweat drenched her face. She realized she was lying on one of those hospital beds. But she felt a draft or something. She felt something cold and wet on her forehead.

"You shouldn't move just yet," a voice told her.

Shiemi saw a young boy that was short for his age with blonde hair that was in a braid and golden eyes. He wore a red hooded duster that reached his lower calves, a black shirt that matched hood less jacket underneath the duster and pants. A brown belt was wrapped around his pants and a long silver chain that was in one of the pockets of his pants. He wore elevator shoes. He held a bowl filled with ice cold water in his white gloved hands.

Following him was a large suit of armor that was larger than anybody else.

"Don't move or you'll open up your wounds," the suit of armor said.

_Wounds? _

Oh, yeah. She attempted to revive her deceased grandmother.

The petite boy with the braid removed the damp cloth from her forehead, dipped it in the bowl and wringed it out.

"Where am I?" Shiemi asked, anxiously.

"You're in the patients room in the Rockbell automail shop. It's run by our friend, Winry Rockbell," he said.

"So what are your names, may I ask?"

"I'm Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist. Believe it or not! My arm and leg are made of steel known as automail!" Edward removed his red duster, gloves and hood less jacket, which left him in his shirt. He proudly showed it his steel arm, it was shiny and spotless. He pulled up the leg of his pants to show his steel leg.

"See? These are automail limbs," he put in. "I'm also a state alchemist! Here's proof." He took out his pocket watch as it shined.

"I'm Alphonse Elric, the younger brother," Alphonse added in. His red orbs met her green eyes.

"I'm Shiemi Moriyama. Please to meet you." She carefully sat up, careful not to dislodge the cold cloth on her forehead. She didn't want to talk about how Alphonse got full body automail.

"Shiemi? Cute name," Edward commented.

"Did you perform something you shouldn't have done?" Alphonse asked, suspiciously.

"Huh?" Shiemi looked at him, puzzled. She looked down to see... She wasn't wearing anything at all. She only bandages that were wrapped around her breasts as if she wore a bandaged tube top. The bandages did cover up the scars that were across her chest. She had a scar under her left breast and on the left side of her waist. Her missing arm was also bandaged. She only wore knee length sweat pants that belonged to someone's.

Edward and Alphonse stared at the floor, their eyes didn't meet hers.

"Edward! Alphonse! You perverts!"

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It didn't take long to be aware if she was awake or not, Winry heard the shout of "pervert". It told her, she was finally awake. Her grandmother, Pinako was busy designing the automail arm for the new girl.

She went the room to check up on the patient.

"I see, you've finally awake," Winry said as she stepped into the room. Edward's face was tomato red as he stared at the floor. Alphonse fiddled with his loincloth.

"I take it, you are Winry Rockbell?" Shiemi asked.

"Yes, I am. You are?"  
"Shiemi Moriyama," she answered.

"By the way, I have a feeling you did human transmutation like these two here." Winry gestured to Edward and Alphonse. That was the reason why Edward had automail and Alphonse was stuck in a suit of armor.

"Yes," Shiemi said, sadly and stared down at her bandaged chest. She wasn't an expert about alchemy like Edward or Alphonse. "In order for me to continue this alchemy, I need operation."

"I was hoping you would say that. I have one guess, you want to be state alchemist, don't you?" Winry questioned. "Ed got his license at a young age."

"Yes, I wish train under Ed's tutelage. I only know a little about alchemy since I'm studying it. I wish to improve and get stronger," Shiemi announced.

Edward's face turned a bit pink when he heard it.

"Y-Y-You want to be my student?" Edward stammered.

"I do, Master Edward." Shiemi bowed at her new alchemy mentor.

Edward and Alphonse exchanged glances at each other and spoke softly. Alphonse had a feeling this girl was also _one _of them now.

"I love a challenge. Okay! I'll take you as my student," Edward said.

"Good. That means granny is working on the automail arm for you," Winry spoke.

"One month!" Shiemi declared. Her mentor also taught her on survival skills. So she was able to stay alive in the wildness.

"Before we do it, let me ask my student something," Edward said. "First, did you see the thing when you performed human transmutation?"

"Something like this." Alphonse wiggled his arms to mimic the movement.

"The thing... Hmm, being flung into a gate of some sort, a white being," Shiemi began to say.

"That's it! It was called the Truth," Edward answered.

"Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only, truth," Alphonse explained.

_The white thing I saw in the gate was the Truth, _she thought.

"What was I thinking?!" Shiemi growled in frustation as she facepalmed her covered forehead.

"Once you perform human transmutation, you gain the ability to perform alchemy without a circle." Edward clapped his hands together to transmutate his automail arm into a blade as an example.

"Let me an example-"

"You can't do it without arm to press your palms together," Winry put in.

"Oh, right," Shiemi said.

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_Later..._

Pain shot every inch of her body as she held back her own screams. She gasped and grit her teeth as sweat trickled down her temples. They had to hurry up and get the surgery over with. She desperately wanted to get started on her alchemy training. She has never endured this much pain before except when she was training under Kenjiro's tutelage. He tested her because she looked naive, she insisted she wasn't.

Before the pain began, Winry told her about the story of Edward and Alphonse. She was their childhood friend and grew up with them. She also told her about her own life. Shiemi was amazed how a teenage girl would become a mechanic at a young age.

Shiemi also explained her past to the Elric brothers and Winry. They both talked before the automail surgery. She attended school and had made friends during her educational time before she joined True Cross Academy. Her own mentor, Kenjiro was the same height as Edward's, that was why she didn't call her alchemy mentor short. She promised to tell them more later on.

Her platinum blonde hair was a bit soaked from the sweat on her head.

Edward and Alphonse were on their way to Central so they left her under Winry and Pinako's care as the surgery was being handled.

It was a theory that automail surgery couldn't take that long. They painfully attached her nerves as she withdrew her screams.

The stormy weather began to clear up as the dark gray clouds began to separate.

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_One month later._

When the painful surgery was over, Shiemi had to learn how to use her new automail arm properly. She thought of playing with it, her new friend, Winry would be angry if she was caught playing with her automail that her grandmother designed. She was a very quick learner, apparently. Much to her surprise, Shiemi practiced her alchemy and transmuted a dead tree into a rosebush.

"I'll give you a call and schedule an appointment," Shiemi promised Winry as they sat on the bench of the train station and waited patiently for the train to arrive.

"Just be please careful with it," Winry said and gave her a sideways glance at Shiemi's new attire for the journey. She wore a black backless shirt with a white line around the V shaped collar, a opaque white long tube top underneath, knee length denim trousers with front and back pockets and shoes.

"Ah, I see my train coming," Shiemi stated as she got up from her seat. The train stopped as she walked towards it and looked back at her friend.

"Oh! Thank you so much for the automail and surgery!" She smiled as she adjusted her traveling bag on her shoulder.

"It was nothing."

She waved back at her through the window as the train blew its horn. A cloud of steam rose from the chimney and the engine started to pull the train away. Winry waited until she could no longer see the train as it rounded a corner into the trees at the end of the valley. Then she turned and started to walk back up the dirt road towards home.

The sun started to set. Orange light flooded the valley. A cool wind brushed the skin of her bare arms. She shivered slightly and crossed them, wishing she had thought to bring a jacket.

Shiemi squealed quietly in her seat as she watched the sunset. Lucky for her, she had en empty booth seat all for herself.

_Wait for me, Master Edward. I'm coming to you, _she thought happily. Her green eyes felt heavy as she began to lay down on her own seat. Within a split second, she fell asleep as if the train rocked her to sleep.

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**_Author's Note: _**_Okay! Just to clear the surgery thing, automail surgery can be shorter or longer. The reason why I made it one month because I didn't make this boring or long for you. Make sense now? _

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	3. Chapter 3: Taunting

_The last two chapters were written late night. I was soo tired at the time._

**I did mention spoilers in this fanfic, did I? Oh yes, each chapter will contain spoilers.**

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**Chapter Three: Taunting**

When the sound of the station bell rang through the air, signaling the train arrived, Shiemi awoke as she gingerly opened her green eyes. She sat up and stretched her arms out. She didn't remember tucking herself in, she brought a jacket with her that was in her traveling bag.

She looked out the window and she saw groups of people in the station. Not many people were on the train, she figured the less people the better.

She slipped on her silver streaked shoes and walked down the aisle with her luggage. She looked back at the empty booth seats.

_If I'm going to be in this world, I might as well give myself a trim, _she thought. She looked down at a small puddle and saw her own reflection. Her short shoulder length bob platinum blonde hair looked like a mess as if she crawled out of bed at dusk.

Shiemi saw a board that read 'Welcome to Central' with two people reading it.

_Maybe it'll show me where to get a haircut around here, _she thought.

"Are you new here?" A man with light brown hair asked.

"Yes, I'm looking for a hair salon," Shiemi said.

"I know a place. They're giving total free haircuts today as long as your hairstylists gets to do whatever he or she wants," he stated. He gave Shiemi a map of Amestris and Central. "Just follow the directions on this map, it'll take you there."

"Thank you so much!" She bowed her head as she made her way out of the station and into the city.

Unbeknownst to her, someone watched her in a dark alleyway with its eyes focused on her as she jogged to her destination. His dark eyes began to crack open as a small portion of sunlight beamed into his face. He winced as if he was a vampire who loathed sunlight. His inhuman appearance made him blend him with darkness.

He noticed the way her automail arm glistened in the morning light.

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Edward and Alphonse were thankful that Shiemi didn't see her alchemy mentor being hit by Winry's wrench. Not that they had to undress her and wrap her in bandages, Edward came to the Rockbell Automail shop to repair his automail for getting in a fight with Scar in Central. While they were on their way, they found Shiemi lying on the ground.

"So now that Shiemi is your alchemy student, are you going give her the same treatment our teacher gave us?" Alphonse asked.

"No chance. I don't want her to die like she almost died from human transmutation," Edward said, honestly.

"Good. She mentioned something about being left in the wilderness or something like that," Alphonse stated.

They were in another library since the National Central Library housed more books than any other library in the nation.

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"Colonel Mustang," a man in a blue military uniform began to say.

"Oh hello, Major General Hakuro," Roy said as he quickly noticed him.

"Have your injuries healed already, Major General?" He asked as he turned to face him.

"They're nothing that would interfere with my work. Now, if you'll come with me, Colonel, I'd like to discuss the scar _incident _with you," Major General Hakuro explained as they began to walk to the office. "How is it that you've allowed _one _man to cause this much trouble? Despite the fact that you're deployed this many men, you still have nothing to report?

"Sir, we will continue to investigate the best of our ability so if you could give us a little more time-"

"I want results, not excuses. You had bring him in soon, Colonel. I'll not have you make a laughing stock of the entire East City military," Major General Hakuro snapped. They continued to walk down the hallway until they reached the office.

"Did that guy come out here from new obtain just to talk smack? He's just better that a youngest like me has reached me the rank of colonel," Jean Havoc stated as he placed heavy scrolls tucked under his left arm.

"Now he's paranoid that I'm going to take his position one day, don't worry about it," Roy explained. They unrolled the papers on his desk as they flattened it from its wrinkles, neatly organizing them. "But I do want to take care of this scar incident just as quickly as he does. The sprouts of future unrest must be pulled before they can take root.

Plus, if an incident that has been giving even Central trouble is taken care of here. Then that will make make me look good. 'Out of crisis comes opportunity. I will do _anything _that will help in my promotion.

Until the day that I become president and gain complete military power."

"It may be wise to refrain from rash statements," Riza Hawkeye said as she smiled.

"Yes, I should try be more careful," Roy agreed.

On the roof the military headquarters, an obese bald man sat on the edge of it with his legs dangling.

"How are things going, Gluttony?" A tall and black haired woman with red lipstick asked as her black heels clinked on the roof. She wore a black dress that matched her long gloves. The woman looked like she belonged on a model runway.

"Welcome back, Lust," Gluttony said.

"Any sign of Scar?"

"Nope. He's not close by. How was your trip?" Gluttony asked.

"The Fullmetal boy figured out that the data for the Philosopher's Stone was hidden in the first branch, so I went there before him and destroyed it. With so many books in the collection, I didn't have time to go through everything so I just burned down the whole building. Now that he's in Central, there's no need to watch the boy so I came back to see how things are going over here," Lust explained. "I take it you still haven't-"

She noticed that Gluttony got up as he sniffed the air.

"Gluttony?"

"I smell him, I smell him!" Gluttony said, excitedly "I smell an Ishbalan cloaked in the smell of blood!"

"Very good, Gluttony," Lust replied.

"Uh huh. Can I eat him?" He asked, hopefully.

"Don't leave a single hair." Lust smirked as Gluttony grinned.

Down in the sewers, Scar stormed off in the tunnel as he walked on the sidewalk of it. A small mouse squeaked. His angry face never left him.

The mouse scurried off as it sensed something approaching it. He opened his piercing red eyes as he felt the approaching movement, he turned to see someone in black walking through the sewer waters.

Gluttony got closer to him as he gave a sneer grin to him, then he dashed towards Scar.

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"Ahh, this is more like it!" Shiemi smiled as she looked in the mirror. The hair salon was filled with people because they were giving free haircuts or anything that their customer wants. Her platinum blonde hair was now chin length, she still maintained her bangs. Her hairstylist brushed off the remains of her short shoulder length hair strands after he finished drying it and he removed the gray cutting cape.

"How does it look?" He asked. His assistant sweep the floor that was full of hair strands with a dustpan.

"Excellent! Never better, I love it! I do love this new haircut," Shiemi said. Her backless shirt that resembled a V neck halter top was covered by the cutting cape. She always wanted to tryout a new hairstyle.

"Have a good day," he called out to her.

"You do," she said over her shoulder as she left the store.

_Now where next? _

She had enough money for her journey, she didn't want to spend it all so she had to be careful. Shiemi noticed the sun was starting to set. Orange light flooded the entire city as the sunlight beamed against the glass of the display windows of each store.

A loud crash caused her to turn around, it sounded like a vase filled with soil and roses.

"Aww, it broke. I need to buy a new one," a boy said.

Shiemi noticed the way he looked and approached him.

"You know, you don't have to buy another one," she told him as she pressed her palms together. Silver sparks came from her hands as the glass shards came together.

Within a split second, she fixed the vase. The soil and plant were back in its place.

"There you go. All fixed." Shiemi smiled at him as she handed the fixed him to the young boy.

"Are you one of those state alchemists?" The boy asked her.

"No, I'm actually training under the Fullmetal Alchemist's tutelage," Shiemi told him.

"The Fullmetal Alchemist? Edward Elric?"

"Yes."

"Good luck with that!" The boy smiled at her as she turned to leave.

She walked up the sidewalk as she slowly turned her head to a nearby narrow alley that was dark, her eyes narrowed at the shallow darkness. A pair of eyes watched her, carefully as it gave off a low growl.

"What are you?" She grumbled at it, clutching her automail arm that was covered up a light hood less jacket.

Instead of answering, it lunged towards her, baring its teeth at her.

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**Author's Note: **_Argh, I feel so lightheaded...And it's like 9:32 PM EST here...I'm sleepy..._

**PLEASE REVIEW.**

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	4. Chapter 4: The Philosopher's Stone

_Oh my, oh me. My apologizes to my readers if you think I was dead. I had badly infected pneumonia so I missed college. I feel like I'm dying. But I'm slowly getting better. Also I have Fullmetal Alchemist mangas volume 1-27 including box edition and three in one mangas so most of the dialogue is from my Fullmetal Alchemist mangas that I have bought. _

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**Chapter 4: The Philosopher's Stone**

"Tim Marcoh, let's see. I don't see any research journals by a Tim Marcoh in our records. Certainly nothing about the 'Philosopher's Stone'. Any new acquisitions whether kept in the main building or any other branches should be on file. If it's not here it either means that it doesn't exist or it was destroyed in the fire the other day. Uh hello?" The dark haired clerk looked up from the book to see the petite boy on his knees.

"Thank you for your help," Alphonse said nervously.

"Hey, are you alright?" The woman asked.

"Do we look all right?" Edward muttered under his breath impatiently as they began to walk out.

"Hey Sheska might know something. You know the girl who used to work at the first branch," a man spoke with stacked books in his arms.

"Oh yeah! I could look up Sheska's address for you. Would you like to meet her?" She asked.

"Who's that? Someone who knew a lot about the books at that branch?" Edward asked curiously.

"You could say that. She's a real bookworm." She began open a book and flip through its pages.

"No answer. Maybe she's not home?" Sergeant Brosh wondered as soon they arrived Sheska's home.

"The light's on so she should be home," Edward insisted as they opened the double doors. He couldn't believe his eyes. There was stacks of books everywhere inside.

"Whoa! What's with all the books?!" Edward looked at all the books.

"Someone actually lives here?!" Sergeant Brosh couldn't someone would live in a home full of books.

"Ms. Sheska! Are you here?" Second Lieutenant Ross called out as books began to fall on the floor.

"How could anyone live with this much clutter?" Alphonse wondered as he knocked down some books from each stack.

"Help. Heelp," a voice called out from a pile of books that were knocked down.

"Big brother! Do you hear that?! Someone's buried under there!" Alphonse announced as soon as he heard the voice.

"Dig, dig!" Edward told him as they began to pull out random books from the pile to retrieve the person.

As they cleared it up, the whole pile was cleaned up and a woman with short brown hair with glasses was underneath.

"Aaaah, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry! I accidentally tripped over the mountain of books. I thought I was going to die under there. Thank you so much!" Sheska adjusted her glasses to bridge of her nose as she apologized and thank them.

"You're welcome."

"Yes, I'm Sheska. As you can tell, I love books so when I got the job at the library branch I was ecstatic! But... because I love to read so much, I, uh... I would forget that I was working and lose myself in the books. That's why I was fired," Sheska admitted as she sighed. "I need to work hard so I can put my sick mother in a better hospital. But... I'm no good at anything but reading so no matter where I go, I can never keep a job. It's true. I'm the most useless person in the world! The scum of society!" She covered her eyes with her hands and begin to whine.

_Is she really alright? _Edward thought.

"Uh, I just wanted to ask you one question. Do you know anything about some research documents by Tim Marcoh?" Edward asked her.

"Yes! I remember! His notes were the only handwritten documents among all the printed books. Someone had filed them incorrectly so I remember them quite well!" Sheska explained to him.

"So it really was in that branch... And that means it's burned to ash..." Edward and Alphonse fell down.

"We're back to square one."

"Thank you for your time." Edward and Alphonse began to leave.

"Uh, um. So you wanted to read the research notes?" Sheska began to tap her chin with her index finger.

"Yes, but now we'll never know what was written. That was the only copy," Edward told her.

"I remember what was in them. The whole thing," Sheska announced.

Edward and Alphonse snapped their heads to her, amazed.

"Huh?"

"No, you don't understand. I have a photographic memory. All I have to do is read something once, and I can recall everything. Every word, every phrase without error!" Sheska grinned. "It will take some time but would you like me to transcribe it for you?"

"Thank you so much, bookworm!" Edward shook her heads as he looked proudly at her.

It had been going on for many hours as she mentally tracked down the time. Shiemi was in danger out passing out on the job.

"Agh!" Shiemi had a cut on her cheek as she clapped her hand, a brick hand pushed her enemy into a brick wall. An odd looking animal was attacking her when she heading her way towards a hotel she was staying at. She ran towards it and kicked at the throat as hard as she could and punched it on the nape, hoping it knock it unconscious. A needle injected into her forearm but she quickly removed it.

"I better wrap this up!" Shiemi clapped her hands again. Within seconds, a small explosion happened that ended the battle causing her enemy knocked out unconscious, slightly killing it.

"It's about time too." Shiemi choked and a small portion of blood came out dropped onto the floor. She was a mess and decided to go a nearby hospital to get herself patched up.

Thank God, no one saw the battle.

"Good thing, my automail isn't broken." Shiemi walked on the sidewalk with her green eyes exhausted.

She suddenly dizzy as her pace decreased as if the world was starting to spin before her. Shiemi bumped into a wall and almost tripped over a tin can.

_I better find Master Edward, _Shiemi thought, but where could her petite alchemy master be? Alphonse mentioned something meeting them in Central Library.

"Sorry it took so long, but there were so much material that it took me five days to write it down. Here you go! Tim's Marcoh's research notes to the letter!" Sheska showed them a desk with stacks of papers and some books.

"She did it... she really did it," Alphonse said.

"There truly are some amazing people in the world, huh, Al?" Edward asked. When he brought it up, he thought of Shiemi, a girl from another world and she was in his world.

"Now it makes sense. Maroch couldn't run away with his notes because of the sheer volume of material," Alphonse stated.

"And you're sure all of these are Maroch's?" Edward suddenly asked as he looked at her.

"Yes! Without a doubt. Tim Marooch's recipe book- 'One thousand meals for daily living'!" Sheska had two files in her hands.

Their happiness turned into confusion.

Second Lieutenant Ross loked at the files and began to read aloud, "'A table spoon of sugar with a few drops of water...' It really is just a bunch of recipes!" She skimmed through the paragraphs of it.

"Hey! What are you trying to pull, lady?! These can't be the right documents!" Sergeant Brosh pointed to the one of the documents as if she was lying to them.

"But.. I just copied it down exactly how I remembered it!" Sheska said honestly.

"There must have been someone else writing under the same name. I'm sorry, you two. It looks like this was all a waste of time." Sergeant Brosh rubbed his head.

"Now, Sheska, you're sure that this is a flawless reproduction of Mr. Marcoh's notes, down to the last word and phrase?" Edward asked suddenly.

"Yes! There are no mistakes." Sheska was worried that if she copied them wrong.

"You're amazing! Thanks a lot!" Edward grinned with a copy of the document in his hands. "All right! C'mon Al! Let's take these back to the main library!" He began to grab documents as many as he could.

"Good idea. We can use their reference books." Alphonse grabbed more documents with his metallic hands.

"Oh, yeah. Almost forgot. Payment." Edward reached into the pocket of his red hooded duster in his other hand he had some documents. He quickly pulled out a small notebook as his wrote down something, "Second Lieutenant Ross! Take my pin number, signature and the silver watch as ID!"

Edward handed his pocket watch and two pieces of paper to her.

"Go the state alchemist's office in the presidential prefecture withdraw the amount I wrote down on there from my research grant for the year and give it to Sheska," Edward told her.

"Yes, sir."

"Sheska. Thanks again for everything! You're a lifesaver! See ya!" Edward waved bye to them as headed out.

"From his research grants, huh?" Second Lieutenant Ross and Sheska looked at the paper in shock.

"Eyaaah! Does that say what I think it does?!" Sheska suddenly asked.

"Who is that kid that he can hand out this amount of cash?!"

They returned to Central Library where they found a desk in one of the aisles. Surprisingly, they found a certain platinum blonde haired and green eyed girl, Shiemi there just outside of the building.

"Now that you're here, we could use some help," Alphonse suggested.

"Okay, let's get to work, shall we?" Shiemi grabbed a document and began to set it on a desk.

"'Alchemists work for the people...' That's our order's motto. Alchemists have always striven to use their powers to benefit ordinary people. State alchemists go against that motto which is why we're called 'dogs of the military'. At the same time, we have an obligation to keep our trade secrets out to the public arena," Edward explained.

"I see. You wouldn't want your knowledge to fall into the wrong hands," Sergeant Brosh said.

"You got it, which is why to keep that from happening... We, alchemists keep our notes in code. This may look like a normal recipe book to most people, but in reality, it's a high level alchemical document written in a code known only to the person who wrote it!" Edward took a seat and began to grab one of the documents.

"It sounds pretty sneaky, I would totally do the same." The platinum blonde haired girl began to skim and study the document's writing.

"But if only one person knows the code, how can you hope to decipher it?" Sergeant Brosh asked as Edward and Shiemi were skimming through each paper.

"With knowledge inspiration, patience and good old-fashioned hard work," Edward answered.

"Geez, I'm getting tired just thinking about it!" Sergeant Brosh sighed heavily.

"These notes might be easier to be decipher because they're disguised as a recipe book," Alphonse said.

"After all, some people say that alchemy orginated in the kitchen," Shiemi stated.

"My big brother logs his research notes in the guise of a travel logue, so when I can read it, I can't make heads or tails out of it," Alphonse announced.

Edward felt like he was getting side tracked.

"All right! Let's crack this code and find out the truth about the Philosopher's Stone!" Edward had two stacks of paper in his hands as his golden yellow eyes met the papers.

"Okay!" Shiemi smiled at her alchemy teacher.

_One week later..._

Edward, Alphonse and Shiemi groaned, their heads were on the desk feeling tired.

"Why'd he make it so damn hard...?" Edward grumbled under his breath.

"Big brother... Maybe we should just ask Marcoh directly?" Alphonse suggested.

Suddenly, Edward's face snapped up as he gripped the pencil, "No! I see this as Marcoh's challenge. It's like he's saying 'Those who can't even break this simple code have no right to know the truth!' I'm going to decipher it on my own, no matter what!"

"Hm?" Shiemi felt very sleepy as she rubbed her eyes.

"Sheska?"

The brown haired girl bowed as she spoke, "I'd heard you three would be in here. Thanks to you, Mr. Edward, I was able to transfer my mother to an excellent hospital! I really don't know how to thank you..."

"No sweat! It was nothing."

"That's Master Edward for ya," Shiemi said as she hid her blush.

"But I feel bad about accepting so much money." Sheska put her hand on her chin.

"You don't need to worry about that. I got off cheap compared to what the secret contained in this data is worth." Edward placed his chin on the cool surface of the desk as he held his hand up.

"I see. So those aren't just recipes... aren't they?" Shiemi asked lifting her chin up from a paper she was decoding.

"So how's your deciphering coming along?" Sheska looked up at the trio.

A wave of gloominess washed over them as they glared at her.

"Have you found a job yet?" Alphonse changed the subject.

"Well, I'd better go. Thank you so much for everything!" Sheska bowed again to them.

"No problem. Don't worry about the money." Edward stretched his limbs out.

"It's not just the money... It's just it makes me so happy that a nobody like me, who's never been good at anything was able to help out. Thank you." She smiled at them.

"You're not a nobody, I think being passionate about something is a talent in itself. Plus, with that amazing memory of yours, I'm sure you'll do all right," Alphonse reassured Sheska.

"Thanks!"

"Yo!" Maes Hughes appeared.

"Lieutenant Colonel Hughes!" Edward looked up from his work.

"Oh, who's this young lady with you?" Maes Hughes looked at Shiemi who was busy deciphering something.

"She's my alchemy student, Shiemi Moriyama."

"Is she your girlfriend?" Maes Hughes grinned.

Edward and Shiemi's face turned red as they both looked at him, puzzled.

"H-H-He's not my boyfriend! Just a friend and alchemy mentor," Shiemi stammered, her face was red.

"I see. So I heard from the major that you'd be here. I told you guys to give me a call if you were ever in Central!" Maes Hughes scoffed at them.

"Yeah, we've been kinda busy ever since we got here," Edward explained.

"I know what you mean! I've been so swamped lately, I haven't been able to leave the office!" Maes Hughes chuckled.

"There's been so many incidents lately the court martial office that I'm in charge of has really been bustling. And we still haven't closed the Tucker Chimera case." He rubbed the back of his head.

Edward looked away from his gaze when he mentioned the incident that occurred a while ago before he found Shiemi.

"Oh, sorry about that, I didn't mean to bring up a sore subject." Maes Hughes noticed that made Edward feel down.

"You were able to take some time to see us in the middle of your busy schedule?" Shiemi questioned.

"Nah! I'm just on break. Thought I should drop by and hi. I've gotta go back to work in a minute. Sheesh, it's busy enough as it is without the first branch burning down like that. I can't take much more of this," Maes Hughes sighed.

"The first branch?" Edward placed his chin on the palm of his hand.

"Uh huh, it was close to the court martial office so we used it to store our records. Incident logs, lists of names, that kind of thing. As you can imagine, the fire's really slowed his down," he told them.

A moment of silence broke through.

Then the three turned their attention to Sheska who was spacing out on them.

"Whaaat?! Well, it's true I did read the military criminal records... and of course, I remember them, but-"

"What'd you think Lieutenant Colonel? We're trying to find her a job." Edward pointed to Sheska.

"Huh?! This little girl has an amazing talent like that?! She could really help us out! Let's get the paperwork out of the way, right now! We're gonna give you a great salary!" Maes Hughes beamed at her.

"Huh?! But, um, really!?" Sheska's face lit up, "Uh, you guys-"

Maes Hughes grabbed the back of the collar of her black shirt.

"Thank you so much! I'm going to be more confident in myself and try my hardest! Thank you so much for everything!"

Maes Hughes dragged Sheska out of the library, leaving Edward, Alphonse and Shiemi behind. Edward noticed that he looked like a kidnapper.

"'Being so passionate about something is a talent itself', huh? Pretty smooth, little brother." Edward had his pencil in his mouth.

"It reminds me of a certain somebody I know," Alphonse sighed.

"Heh, heh. Well that 'somebody' needs to get back to these notes if he's ever going to figure them out," Edward smirked.

Then the clock started to gong, indicating it was about to close.

"It's not that time again. They've been at it for ten straight days and still no progress." Second Lieutenant Ross rose up from her seat.

"All right, you three. Library's closing, time to pack up." Sergeant Brosh opened the door.

"Th-This can't be!" Edward cried out that startled Sergeant Brosh and Second Lieutenant Ross.

There were some books opened and were left on the floor.

"Is.. is everything all right?! Have you been fighting? Please calm down-"

"No, that's not it."

"Then, are you frustrated because you can't decipher the code?" Second Lieutenant Ross questioned.

"We did decipher it," Edward reported.

"We did it." Alphonse avoided their gaze.

"We did deciphered the code," Shiemi spoke up.

"Really?! Then that's good!" Sergeant Brosh began to smile.

"There's nothing good about it! Dammit!" Edward slammed himself onto the floor. "This really is 'the work of the devil' Damn it, Marcoh.. What the hell were you doing?!" He face palmed as he growled.

"What's wrong?"

"The main ingredient for the Philosopher's Stone is a living human being!" Edward and Shiemi announced.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **Dun, dun, dun._ _*dramatic music*_ _I hope this chapter was long enough._

_"It brings joy in sorrow, victory in battle, light to darkness, life to the dead... That's the power of the blood red jewel which men honor with the name the Philosopher's Stone."~Quote from the end of chapter 10: The Philosopher's Stone in Fullmetal Alchemist volume 3._

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